Allocasuarina distyla

A She-oak

Family: Casuarinaceae

This bushy upright shrub grows 3-4 m high, sparser on poor rocky ground and denser in more sheltered situations.

Leaves are reduced to bands of 6-8 teeth around the stems of branchlets to limit transpiration. The branchlets are only 1 - 1.5 mm in diameter.

Male and female flowers are borne on separate plants. Both are small. The female flowers, in spiky balls, tend to grow on the lower side branches.The male flowers grow in spikes on the ends of the branchlets. The mass of male flowers gives the plant a rusty-red appearance in Spring.

The fruit is a cylindrical cone with a definite point.

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